The Drum Panel: Chick Corea's cheap but good advice for playing music in a group PART TWO

The Drum Panel: Chick Corea's cheap but good advice for playing music in a group PART TWO

From Drummers on Drumming by Ben Hilzinger

June 3, 2026 · 50 min · Season 3 · Episode 219

About this episode

The episode discusses Chick Corea's advice for playing music in a group, focusing on intention and creativity.

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This episode is a new installment of The Drum Panel, and it’s Part TWO of TWO of diving into Chick Corea’s Cheap But Good Advice For Playing Music in a Group. I’m joined by good friend of mine ⁠Rafa Vidal⁠, who also plays with the band Almost Monday, who are currently killing it, and of course ⁠Eric Somers-Urrea ⁠is back on the panel. In Part One, we covered numbers 1 through 6. Today, we’re finishing the list with numbers 7 through 16, which get into some really good stuff: balance, intention, taste, space, relaxation, ego, and what it actually means to serve the music. As always with The Drum Panel, we’re not pretending to have all the answers. We’re just using these ideas as a jumping-off point to talk about playing music, being in bands, staying creative, and trying to become better musicians without losing our minds. ——— Chick Corea's Cheap But Good Advice For Playing Music in a Group. Play only what you hear. If you don’t hear anything, don’t play anything. Don’t let your fingers and limbs wander. Place them intentionally. Don’t improvise on endlessly. Play something with intention, develop it or not, then…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Hilzinger

Guests: Rafa Vidal, Eric Somers-Urrea

Topics covered

  • music advice
  • group playing
  • musical intention
  • creativity
  • band dynamics

Keywords

  • Chick Corea
  • music advice
  • band dynamics
  • musical intention
  • creativity

Sponsors

Big Fat Snare Drum

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Almost Monday

More episodes of Drummers on Drumming

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Drummers on Drumming podcast page.